Bullet Through His Hearts
by MingoGirl
Summary: Rose is shot and the Doctor rushes to save her, despite feeling as though his own hearts are falling apart.


**My first Doctor Who fic. I was bored. Enjoy.**

Rose felt her teeth rattle as her head bounced off the pavement. Pain radiated from the center of her chest where the bullet had torn a gaping hole. She vaguely heard the Doctor screaming, but was not coherent enough to decipher his words. He sounded angry, scared, upset, and a number of other things, but Rose could not summon the energy to care. She felt lethargic and wanted to sleep, but the Doctor's incessant jabbering would not allow her to drift off.

"I wanna sleep, Doctor," she mumbled. "Go away."

"No, Rose," he said urgently. "You have to stay awake!"

Rose ignored the Doctor, and closed her eyes. She felt herself nodding off immediately. Before she could properly fall asleep, she felt herself being lifted off the ground. The motion of the Doctor's gate was enough to keep her from falling into a deep sleep, though not enough to stop her from dozing.

Through the entire walk, the Doctor never stopped talking. Rose couldn't quite comprehend what he was saying, but the general tone of his voice let her know that something was wrong. She must be injured more severely than she originally thought, and she instinctively fought against sleep, now realizing that if she slept, she would have to leave the Doctor, and that was not acceptable. Forcing her eyes open, Rose struggled to focus on the blurry image of the Doctor's face as her vision wavered.

When they finally reached the TARDIS, Rose felt relief. The Doctor had always managed to patch up even the worst of injures in the med bay, so now she must be in the clear. She felt him lay her on one of the beds, and though he must have been gentle- he always was- the slight movement felt like someone had shoved their hand into her chest and ripped out her lungs.

An immeasurable amount of time passed before the Doctor returned to her side. "This is going to hurt," he whispered. "Try not to faint."

Rose nodded weakly and attempted to watch as the Doctor carefully cut off her shirt so he could access her wound. He cleansed the wound quickly and sat her up slightly to see if there was an exit wound. When there wasn't, the Time Lord hesitated, worrying Rose. Before she could even attempt to form a coherent sentence, he had bustled away from her. Moments later he returned with a bag of blood and a sterile IV.

"Sorry," he muttered as he pricked the delicate skin of her forearm with the needle. Before long, there was a steady drip of fresh blood pumping into Rose. "I have to get the bullet out," the Doctor said quietly. "I am so, so sorry for this."

Without warning, the Doctor pulled the skin around her would apart with his left hand and quickly shoved a pair of tweezers into her chest. Immediately, he moved his left hand to press firmly against her sternum as she gasped in pain, preventing her chest cavity from expanding and hurting her more.

"Be still," he said quickly. "I can feel the bullet."

The Doctor took the hiss of air between her teeth as confirmation and swiftly gripped the bullet and extracted it. Placing the bloody tools on a steel cart nearby, he picked up some contraption that Rose vaguely recognized as something that would heal the worst of the internal damage and passed it over her chest. She would have squirmed if she hadn't been so weak, but settled with a quiet whine of disapproval.

"I know," the Doctor said soothingly. "I'm almost done." Seconds later, he moved the device away from her and the itching stopped. "I just have to bandage you up now."

Not bothering to wait for an answer, he proceeded to wrap her torso in sterile white gauze. She attempted to mumble her thanks, but all that came out was a quiet moan before she blacked out.

~DW~DW~DW~

Rose felt safe and warm, like she was wrapped in a warm cocoon. Warmth radiated from all sides, and she found herself unable to move her arms or legs very much. Blearily, she opened her eyes. The lights in the room were dim, but they still stung her eyes.

"Doctor?" she croaked, her dry throat feeling raw. Immediately he was by her side.

"You're awake!" he grinned. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been body slammed by a Slitheen." She glanced around. Her body was wrapped in a thick swathe of white blankets, which is what had inhibited her movement. "Water?" she asked.

"Right! Water is good! Humans need water!" He continued to babble on as he rushed around, filling a small cup with water and returning to her side. "Here, let me help you," he said as he carefully slid his right arm under her shoulders and eased her up. He raised the cup to her lips and she took small sips, almost coughing it up on the first couple tries. Eventually she managed to drink all and the Doctor placed the empty cup on the bedside table. Only now did Rose realize that she didn't recognize the room she was in.

"Doctor, what room is this?" she asked, leaning on him heavily, already dozing off again.

"This is my room," he mumbled. "The TARDIS moved mine closer instead of yours, and I didn't want to argue with her."

"Oh." Silence lapsed between them for a few minutes. "How long have I been asleep?" she asked finally.

"Two hours, thirteen minutes, and forty-seven seconds," he answered absently.

"And how long have I been, um, dead?"

The Doctor looked at her in shock. "Why do you think you're dead?"

"Because of you," she said sadly.

"Me? What about me?" He sounded insulted.

"You're _you_," she said pointedly. "You're bald, and have got ears and leather, and you sound like you're from the North!"

The Doctor smiled sadly. "Hoped you wouldn't notice. You've been dead for two hours, fourteen minutes, and fifty-six seconds."

"Why are you here?" Rose suddenly felt panicked. "Please tell me you aren't dead too!"

The Doctor grinned at her. "This me, in a sense, is. That's why I'm here now. So you didn't have to wake up here alone."

"And where is here?" she asked. "I thought this was the TARDIS."

"A version of her. She is how this me remembers her, just like the rest of it."

"But _where are we_?" Rose persisted.

"The afterlife, Heaven, whatever you want to call it. But we're together, and that's what matters, my little pink and yellow human."

Rose smiled and untangled herself from the blankets. Suddenly feeling invigorated. She held her and out to the Doctor and wiggled her fingers. "Run!"

~DW~DW~DW~

The Doctor stood over Rose's limp, slowly paling body, tears streaming down his face. He felt like his hearts were breaking into ever smaller pieces, like the bullet had torn through his chest instead of hers, tearing his hearts apart.

"I love you Rose," he whispered. "I love you so much."

**Because no one **_**really **_**needs their feels. **


End file.
